Essential Outdoor Local Recording

[rogersmb]

HeIlo, I am looking at some camera options. Does anyone know if it is possible to record to a local USB drive with the Outdoor Essential cameras, if I already have the base station set to record to a USB (VMB4000) for the older Pro and Pro2 cameras?

Thanks!

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@rogersmb wrote:

I already have the base station set to record to a USB (VMB4000) for the older Pro and Pro2 cameras?

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Note the VMB4000 supports local recording, but it does NOT support playback.  The ONLY way to see the local recordings is to eject the storage and connect it to a PC.  

All the recordings you see in the app or my.arlo.com are stored in the Arlo Cloud.  Your Pro/Pro 2 cameras were sold with 7 days of free cloud storage.  All of the currently sold camera models require a subscription for cloud storage. 

The VMB4540 and VMB5000 smarthubs do have a direct access to local storage feature, but it has a lot of limitations.  If you want to get the details, just ask.

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@rogersmb wrote:

Does anyone know if it is possible to record to a local USB drive with the Outdoor Essential cameras,

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The original Essential cameras can be paired with a smarthub, so those will work if you are willing to upgrade your smarthub and live with the limitations.

The new Essential Gen 2 models do not support smarthubs yet.  Arlo says they will add that feature, but haven't said when.  So at the moment, there is no local storage option for those cameras.

[KartDude]

Yes, what you experiencing worked a few months ago, but is not working now.
Here is what happened with me.

I have three Essential Spotlight Cameras and two Ultra Cameras. I also have a VMB4540 Base Station. I also tried a VMB5000 with same results. About mid July my wife and I noticed that on our iPhones that we are not able to access the local recordings when we are outside of our home network. When we are inside of our home network, we can access the recordings. I am able to access the recordings on my iPad which is connected via WiFi when I am outside of the network.
I contacted Arlo support and they suggested that I check the Port Forwarding options on my Linksys Router. I noticed that Port Forwarding status on my iPhones says "Not Available", but on my iPad it says "Available". I tried several times to "Refresh Ports" and reconfigured and restarted my router and got the same results.

Finally Arlo support reported that this is a known issue and they are working on it. I am suspicious that they are really "working" on it because this is not a revenue generator and they have been "working" on it for over a month now.
Are you looking at the local recordings both inside and outside your local network?

[rogersmb]

Thansk Stephen. I'm curious about the playback limitations for the VMB4540 and VMB5000?

[rogersmb]

Thanks KartDude. Just viewing the recordings inside my home network would probably be fine.  As it is right now, with my old Pro2 cameras, I can only view the recordings on my USB drive by plugging it into my computer and browsing, like a regular file folder.  And that is OK for me.  With the Pro2's I can also view the recordings in the Arlo cloud, and I really like being able to view at least 7 days worth in the app with my "free" account. For my needs, I'm not convinced upgrading to a paid subscription with newer cameras will be any big benefit, compared to what I currently have now. If the Essential cameras can record to a USB w/o needing a paid account, then eventually I might make the switch. I use them in a reactive role.

[StephenB]

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@rogersmb wrote:

I'm curious about the playback limitations for the VMB4540 and VMB5000?

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Limitations include:

• recordings are only available in the app, not the browser.
• recordings are only available from the primary account, not shared "friend" accounts
• no ability to make manual recordings or take snapshots
• no thumbnails, everything needs to be downloaded to the phone before viewing
• recordings are not shown in the "Feed", so there are a few more steps needed to access them
• remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which will not work with some internet service providers).